Tuesday, July 20, 2004
Fatties of the world, unite!
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Medicare to Cover Obesity as a Disease, U.S. Says
WASHINGTON (Reuters) Jul 16 - In a policy shift that could affect millions of Americans, obesity treatments may be covered under Medicare and Medicaid, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said on Thursday.
State and federal health insurance plans for the poor and elderly currently do not consider obesity itself a disease, though some conditions linked to obesity are covered.
However, Thompson said if an obesity treatment could be proved to improve the health of a Medicare recipient, it would be covered.
"Obesity is a critical public health problem in our country that causes millions of Americans to suffer unnecessary health problems and to die prematurely," he said in a statement.
"Treating obesity-related illnesses and complications adds billions of dollars to the nation's health care costs," he added in testimony to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education.
"With this new policy, Medicare will be able to review scientific evidence in order to determine which interventions improve health outcomes for seniors and disabled Americans who are obese and its many associated medical conditions."
The Department of Health and Human Services said a first step would be a look at obesity surgery like gastric bypass.
HHS said in a statement it did not expect the new policy to have any immediate impact, as the Center for Medicare and Medicaid services would have to review any claim.
"We encourage and we're expecting requests to review scientific evidence evaluating the benefits of a range of treatments for obesity in the Medicare population," said CMS Chief Medical Officer Dr. Sean Tunis.
"As a first step, we expect to convene our Medicare Coverage Advisory Committee in the fall to evaluate the evidence on obesity-related surgical procedures that may reduce the risk of heart disease and other illnesses."
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Ok.. whoever came up with this stupid idea should be shot, I swear it. Obesity is now considered a DISEASE? No... obesity is someone that ate too much food and didn't exercise. This is going to open up a whole can of worms in our medical and justice systems. Now, patients are going to see their doctors and DEMAND bariatric surgery - 99.9% of patients can't even say bariatric, much less understand the risks involved in such a surgery. Are they smoking crack?
This decision will also open up new doors for fatties to sue physicians. I thought we were trying to decrease the number of malpractice lawsuits in this country. I can see it now - "500 pound fattie sues doctor over his fat ass - more at 11." Why do people refuse to take responsibility for their own actions? What is it about this country and about humankind that makes everyone so quick to blame someone else for their problems?
I guess it's something in our culture. Oh wait, we have no culture because we have people from like 5000 countries here - and none of them speak English (that's another rant altogether).
So, what do we do? Reverse this decision, for one. I don't want my tax dollars to go to some fattie's surgery or depression medications because they won't get off their ass and exercise and not eat McDonalds. If you're going to eat McDonalds, at least WALK to the damn store! Then you would have burned 15 of the 150000 calories you are about to ingest.
Another thing - why do people order 2 double cheese burgers, xtra large fries and a DIET COKE. Oh yeah.. that's going to make a HUGE impact in your daily caloric intake.. why don't you just order a big freaking cup of the grease they use to cook those damn fries?
Stupid people... get off your ass and lose the weight. And if you refuse, don't expect anyone else to do it for you because your fat ass is your own CHOICE. Obesity isn't a disease - it's a choice. You chose to eat all that food. You chose to not exercise.
And I choose to refuse to believe that obesity is a disease.
more to come...
¶ 7:37 AM
Medicare to Cover Obesity as a Disease, U.S. Says
WASHINGTON (Reuters) Jul 16 - In a policy shift that could affect millions of Americans, obesity treatments may be covered under Medicare and Medicaid, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said on Thursday.
State and federal health insurance plans for the poor and elderly currently do not consider obesity itself a disease, though some conditions linked to obesity are covered.
However, Thompson said if an obesity treatment could be proved to improve the health of a Medicare recipient, it would be covered.
"Obesity is a critical public health problem in our country that causes millions of Americans to suffer unnecessary health problems and to die prematurely," he said in a statement.
"Treating obesity-related illnesses and complications adds billions of dollars to the nation's health care costs," he added in testimony to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education.
"With this new policy, Medicare will be able to review scientific evidence in order to determine which interventions improve health outcomes for seniors and disabled Americans who are obese and its many associated medical conditions."
The Department of Health and Human Services said a first step would be a look at obesity surgery like gastric bypass.
HHS said in a statement it did not expect the new policy to have any immediate impact, as the Center for Medicare and Medicaid services would have to review any claim.
"We encourage and we're expecting requests to review scientific evidence evaluating the benefits of a range of treatments for obesity in the Medicare population," said CMS Chief Medical Officer Dr. Sean Tunis.
"As a first step, we expect to convene our Medicare Coverage Advisory Committee in the fall to evaluate the evidence on obesity-related surgical procedures that may reduce the risk of heart disease and other illnesses."
========================================================
Ok.. whoever came up with this stupid idea should be shot, I swear it. Obesity is now considered a DISEASE? No... obesity is someone that ate too much food and didn't exercise. This is going to open up a whole can of worms in our medical and justice systems. Now, patients are going to see their doctors and DEMAND bariatric surgery - 99.9% of patients can't even say bariatric, much less understand the risks involved in such a surgery. Are they smoking crack?
This decision will also open up new doors for fatties to sue physicians. I thought we were trying to decrease the number of malpractice lawsuits in this country. I can see it now - "500 pound fattie sues doctor over his fat ass - more at 11." Why do people refuse to take responsibility for their own actions? What is it about this country and about humankind that makes everyone so quick to blame someone else for their problems?
I guess it's something in our culture. Oh wait, we have no culture because we have people from like 5000 countries here - and none of them speak English (that's another rant altogether).
So, what do we do? Reverse this decision, for one. I don't want my tax dollars to go to some fattie's surgery or depression medications because they won't get off their ass and exercise and not eat McDonalds. If you're going to eat McDonalds, at least WALK to the damn store! Then you would have burned 15 of the 150000 calories you are about to ingest.
Another thing - why do people order 2 double cheese burgers, xtra large fries and a DIET COKE. Oh yeah.. that's going to make a HUGE impact in your daily caloric intake.. why don't you just order a big freaking cup of the grease they use to cook those damn fries?
Stupid people... get off your ass and lose the weight. And if you refuse, don't expect anyone else to do it for you because your fat ass is your own CHOICE. Obesity isn't a disease - it's a choice. You chose to eat all that food. You chose to not exercise.
And I choose to refuse to believe that obesity is a disease.
more to come...
¶ 7:37 AM
